welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: us covid cases continue to rise, in a push to get the nation vaccinated, all federal workers could be required to have the jab, or face more testing. japan records the highest daily number of coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic. the delta variant, and the olympics, are being blamed for the surge. i'm sarah mulkerrins live in tokyo on day 6 of the olympics, where the men's golf competition

is underway, with all eyes on masters champion hideki matsyuama for the hosts japan. simone biles is out of another olympic event. the star of the us gymnastic team explains the issues that caused her to withdraw. and, the hill—sides in north wales that are now on a par with, the canals of venice, and the great wall of china. it's eight in the morning in singapore, and eight in the evening in washington where president biden is expected to announce that federal workers will soon be required to confirm they are vaccinated, orface more testing. the numbers of coronavirus

cases are rising with the director of the us national public health agency, the cdc, saying cases have increased over 300% nationally since mid—june. president biden has renewed his call for people to get vaccinated. so many people, well over 630,000 americans have lost their lives because of covid—19. and the press keeps wanting me not to talk about covid—19 but i'm going to mention this one thing, we still have a lot of people not vaccinated. in the pandemic we have now is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. so, please, please, please, if you are not vaccinated, protect yourself and the children out there. it is important. our north america correspondent, peter bowes told me more about the current situation in the us. there is now a real sense of urgency that the numbers quite frankly are going in the wrong direction stop fewer than 50% of people in this country are

fully vaccinated at i think the most perhaps worrying statistic came from the cdc, the centres for disease control and prevention today, saying just prevention today, saying just 24 prevention today, saying just 2a hours ago, those prevention today, saying just 2a hours ago, those parts of the country that are described as hotspots, rates of infection, covering about 63% of the country, today it is 67% that are described as so bad in terms of the rate of transmission, these are the areas that people are being advised whether they are vaccinated or not to wear face masks indoors in a public setting. so there is a sense of urgency, we heard it in the tone and the words of the president there, and we are seeing it reflected up and down the country with more pressure being put on people who haven't so far, to get vaccinated. more ressure so far, to get vaccinated. more pressure put — so far, to get vaccinated. more pressure put on _ so far, to get vaccinated. more pressure put on people, - so far, to get vaccinated. more pressure put on people, not i pressure put on people, not just from the government, from companies as well. netflix saying it is requiring all its

actors and other personnel on its us productions to be vaccinated, what do you think the reaction would be to something like this? perhaps the reaction _ something like this? perhaps the reaction will _ something like this? perhaps the reaction will be _ something like this? perhaps the reaction will be the - something like this? perhaps the reaction will be the same j the reaction will be the same across the country when people are advised to get vaccinated. to some extent this issue has been politicised, certainly in states like florida where there is a relatively low vaccination rate, but as far as employees of these major companies are concerned, i think it still comes down largely to personal opinions as far as their reaction will be. i think people will have to make difficult decisions but if they want to go back to theirjob in the office and the company is telling them they have to be vaccinated, well it seems that they will have no choice. we have netflix, the first major studio to make a decision that all of its major cast members and anyone who comes into contact with them will have to be vaccinated for workers to go back to facebook in office and

to be working alongside other people they have to be vaccinated too and is of course are very high profile, well—known companies. there will be lesser—known companies, privately owned companies up and down the country having to make similar decisions. i'm joined now byjohn swartzberg, clinical professor of infectious diseases at the university of california's school of public health. good to have you on the programme, professor. does the plea from president bidon go far enough?— far enough? well, i hope it will, but — far enough? well, i hope it will, but i'm _ far enough? well, i hope it will, but i'm unfortunatelyl will, but i'm unfortunately sceptical that it will. there are an awful lot of people that have shown a tremendous amount of reluctance to getting vaccinated and his pleas will help, but they need to go further than that.- help, but they need to go further than that. how much of a burden does _ further than that. how much of a burden does the _ further than that. how much of| a burden does the government, is the government rather putting on the private sector to urge people in companies to

get vaccinated, as we've heard from netflix, for example, and is this an effective strategy? it puts a tremendous burden on private companies to do this. frankly i think it is the responsibility of public health to make sure that things happen, but there are political reasons why the government is only pushing so far. it's put the burden on private companies, private companies have to make the decision whether they are going to mandate vaccination or not going to allow people to come into work not vaccinated but insist on verification but the private companies are the ones that would have to do the verification because the government hasn't stepped in to do that. so i think there is a role for government here that has not been filled adequately. regardless of people's vaccination status, though, what do you think the masking up what do you think the masking up policy in the us should be, given the fact that we have seen an effective u—turn from

the cdc recently? seen an effective u-turn from the cdc recently?— the cdc recently? the u-turn was entirely _ the cdc recently? the u-turn was entirely appropriate, - the cdc recently? the u-turn was entirely appropriate, we | was entirely appropriate, we are seeing a brand—new variant here, one that you and the united kingdom have been dealing with for a good while and know the consequences of it so we needed to make a u—turn. it's been a particularly hard u—turn to make because there was a tremendous amount of elation here in the united states in late may and early june when it looked like we were coming to the endgame of covid and now that very far in the distance. in terms of masking indoors i think everybody should have a mask on indoors. it keeps everybody protected, even those that are not vaccinated.— protected, even those that are not vaccinated. how worried are ou not vaccinated. how worried are you about _ not vaccinated. how worried are you about the — not vaccinated. how worried are you about the delta _ not vaccinated. how worried are you about the delta variant - not vaccinated. how worried are you about the delta variant and | you about the delta variant and what do you think the current levels of the delta variant are in the us right now? the delta variant is far _ in the us right now? the delta variant is far and _ in the us right now? the delta variant is far and away - in the us right now? the delta variant is far and away the - variant is far and away the predominant variant, as a matter of fact it's almost all of the cases that we are seeing right now. so it is the beast that we are dealing with. it is

serious, there are more people being hospitalised, there are more people dying. fortunately, like in the uk, there is a disconnect between the number of cases and the number of people hospitalised and dying. by people hospitalised and dying. by that i'm in, we not seeing that problem that we had here in the us in december and january and other countries around the world, where there were a lot of people getting infected and a lot of people hospitalised and a lot of people dying, so it is a very serious virus, it is so transmissible so it is of tremendous concern but fortunately, we still have tremendous hospital reserves in much of the country, but there are several states, for example, missouri, floridajust example, missouri, florida just to example, missouri, floridajust to name two that are getting to the point where their hospitals are filling up, intensive care is filling up, ventilators are getting used. is filling up, ventilators are getting used-— is filling up, ventilators are iiettin used. ., ~' . getting used. thank you so much for “oinini getting used. thank you so much forjoining us— getting used. thank you so much forjoining us on _

getting used. thank you so much forjoining us on the _ programmes. and you can find much more about this story on our website. we have a special section dedicated to all things coronavirus, with everything you need to know about latest figures and vaccines. just go to bbc.com/news. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. officials in india say more than 160 people have died in the past week due to severe floods and major landslides. many people have also been reported missing in villages along the country's western coast. heavy rains have also caused flooding in the cox's bazar area of bangladesh. at least 11 people have been reported dead, including children. president biden has met the exiled belarusian opposition leader, sviatla na tsikhanouskaya, at the white house to offer his support. she said her country was on the frontline of a battle between democracy and autocracy.

last year's election in belarus returned the country's long term leader, alexander lukashenko, to power but was widely criticised as rigged. peru's new president has been sworn into office, pledging to reduce poverty and to boost the public health system to tackle the covid pandemic. pedro castillo is a former primary school teacher, who was elected by a razor—thin margin. his defeated rival keiko fujimori has vowed to block his proposals in congress. china is expanding its capacity to store and launch nuclear missiles, according to scientists in the us. satellite images from xinjiang province in the west of the country suggest it is building a nuclear missile silo field. it is the second new silo field reported to be under construction in western china in the last two months. still to come a bit later in the programme: we look at the trend of vaccine tourism — with many heading to the us to get a jab.

but first, let's head to tokyo now where it's day 6 of the olympic games. we'll have an update on the day's events ina minute, but first, as we were just talking about, coronavirus cases are on the rise in asia and japan is not immune. tokyo is suffering its worst outbreak of coronavirus since the pandemic began. wednesday saw a record of more than 3,000 cases in tokyo alone. i'm joined now by mariko oi who is in the shimbashi district in tokyo. we have been talking about the record cases injapan that tops, for the first time, daily records yesterday, putting hospitals under increasing strain. how is that affecting the ability of people to get out and about, given the fact that japan is now out and about, given the fact thatjapan is now in out and about, given the fact that japan is now in the fourth state of emergency? i that japan is now in the fourth state of emergency?— state of emergency? i have to sa , not state of emergency? i have to say. not much _ state of emergency? i have to say, not much has _ state of emergency? i have to

say, not much has changed i state of emergency? i have to i say, not much has changed since the fourth state of emergency was declared. as you can probably see behind me, a lot of commuters are getting to the office and also last night after 8pm which is when restaurants and bars are asked to close but many of them remained open, loosely because —— mostly because of the money the government promised and financial support but it's taking way too long especially for smaller businesses to see that money to stay afloat and because it is not a strict lot down with no penalty people haven't really been obliging and if you ask people on the street you would say, you can't exactly go ahead with the olympics despite the strong public opposition and asking us to stay at home, i think it is fair to say that a lot of people feel a bit fed up by the fourth state of emergency and the lack of support that businesses are getting. this is despite the gold rush that we are seeing injapan, we saw a new gymnastics hero only at the age of 19 winning a gold medal

yesterday, so there's been a lot of positive sports news headlines taking over the newspapers on local tv channels, but these days i've noticed that a lot more negative publicity is coming back, notjust about negative publicity is coming back, not just about the covid numbers but also how apparently a lot of food was wasted on the day of the opening ceremony because the organising committee failed to cancel the food order despite deciding against having any spectators, so public opinions are very fluid and people are starting to feel quite distressed about this becoming possibly a super spreader event once again. mariko oi for us there on that story talking about the coronavirus cases increasing and japan but at same time, that gold rush that pan has seenin that gold rush that pan has seen in the olympics. now as promised, let's look ahead to what's coming up in day 6. japan is starting the day still on top of the medal tally with 13 gold medals, one more than china, with the united states sitting in third place.

our sports presenter sarah mulkerrins is there covering all the action. we have more medals in swimming and rowing to come up and then all is on the way today, right? absolutely, and it was interesting looking at that middle table there and seeing japan top because hideki matsuyama is going in the golf orjapan, there is huge pressure on him, he is one of the faces of the games here. he won the masters back in april, the first japanese player to win that event so he is looking to add a gold medal to his greenjacket and in to add a gold medal to his green jacket and in the buildup to these games this week he had said he been watching a lot of his compatriots winning those medals and is hoping he can do as well. he has teed off in that event, as we know not many people there. the support staff clapped him as he teed off and he found the fairway on the first, always a nervy opening shot particularly if it's the

olympics on home soil, so he will be competing on that but he has a lot of competition, the american team is very strong. a youngster from the american team is very strong. a youngsterfrom san francisco, very promising golfer. justin thomas is also there, rory mcilroy so there's plenty of big names that will be taking the headlines over the coming four days but we are going to have lots more medals as you say in the swimming a little bit later, it will be all eyes on the american caleb tressel going in the blue ribbon event, 100 metres freestyle so he is going to try to look to get his first individual gold medal of the games there and also we are going to have in the next few minutes the rowing getting under way, there are medals up for grabs there as well today. lots of exciting stuff to look forward to, but today would have been some biles' weekday. she is not there and she talked about why she is not there. who other than the running today? —— simone biles. it’s

other than the running today? -- simone biles.— other than the running today? -- simone biles. it's wide open now when _ -- simone biles. it's wide open now when you _ -- simone biles. it's wide open now when you think _ -- simone biles. it's wide open now when you think of - -- simone biles. it's wide open now when you think of the - now when you think of the dominance of simone biles in gymnastics over recent years, such as the level of her competition that nobody really comes close to her. she qualified well clear for this all—around final despite not performing right at her best. she's not going to be there as say because of the mental health struggles that she is currently going through. we don't know whether she will line out for her individual finals a little bit later in the games, so a big opportunity for brazil's gymnast rebecca andrej, she has never meddled at an olympics, qualified in the second so she will be hoping for a gold.- the second so she will be hoping for a gold. thank you for keeping _ hoping for a gold. thank you for keeping us _ hoping for a gold. thank you for keeping us up-to-date . hoping for a gold. thank you i for keeping us up-to-date with for keeping us up—to—date with all of the sporting action. if you want to get in touch with me i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma.

looking forward to hearing from you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. the slate landscape in north wales — that's been awarded unesco world heritage status. cheering. the us space agency, nasa, has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armagh, once an everyday part of the soldier's lot, drudgery and danger. now no more, after almost four decades. if one is on one's own in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i don't see why all these people should wander in and say

you're doing something wrong. six rare white lion . cubs are on the prowl at worcestershire park and they've been metl with a roar of approval from visitors. - they are lovely and sweet, yeah, cute. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore.0ur headlines as us covid cases continue to rise, the push to get the nation vaccinated means federal workers could be required to have the jab, or face more testing. japan records the highest daily number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic. the delta variant — and the olympics — are being blamed for the surge in cases. the availability of covid—19 vaccines varies widely from country to country.

in recent months, the shortage in many parts of the world has sparked the trend of vaccine tourism — with many people heading to the united states to getjabbed. our taipei correspondent, cindy sui returned to her home country, the us, to visit family, and get the jabs. these family, and get the jabs. tourists from many countries these tourists from many countries have come to the united states to get vaccinated against covid—19. hat united states to get vaccinated against covid-19.— united states to get vaccinated against covid-19. not 'ust from brazil the us h against covid-19. not 'ust from brazil the us it h against covid-19. not 'ust from brazil the us it is _ against covid-19. not 'ust from brazil the us it is for h against covid-19. notjust from brazil the us it is for the - brazil the us it is for the world. , ., ., , ., world. everyone wants the world to to normal. _ world. everyone wants the world to to normal. besides _ world. everyone wants the world to to normal. besides latin - to to normal. besides latin america. — to to normal. besides latin america, many _ to to normal. besides latin america, many travellers l to to normal. besides latin . america, many travellers have come from asia including this 84—year—old grandmother who just got off a flight from vietnam. her granddaughter tells me that even at her age she cannot get vaccinated in her country. in my country there are not enough vaccines. not enough for everybody. around 50% of us resident with and as a fully vaccinated but rates are much lower elsewhere including around 20% in south

america, 10% in asia and just 1.5% in africa. just the san francisco airport alone has vaccinated around 1000 passengers arriving from over 50 countries since may and the demand is growing. the shortage of vaccines and the slow vaccination rate in many cases around the world including taiwan and other parts of asia have driven a trend in vaccine tourism. the united states is making it easy by offering free vaccines to anyone in its territory without requiring red ascendancy. we have a surplus supplier making that available for others is a good thing and it really helps everyone. it helps other countries to vaccinate their population faster, it helps to reduce the barriers of international travel that currently exist and it ultimately everybody wins when we offer a programme like this. taiwanese people who prefer the two shot vaccines have walked into us pharmacies

and filled out a consent form to get the jabs. she has spent $18,000 just on plane tickets and hotel lodging for one month but she says it is worth it. i have a seven—year—old daughter and my parents are over 70. i need to protect myself then i can protect my family. i feel so happy right now. i feel like an invincible woman. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. republican and democratic leaders in the us senate have reached agreement on the key elements of a $1.2 trillion infrastructure programme. the package is supported by president biden, who said the breakthrough showed that american democracy could function, deliver and do big things. the vote takes place on wednedsay. dusty hill, the bass player for 22 top, has died at the age of 72.

that's according to a statement from his bandmates. they say he passed away in his sleep at his home in houston texas. hill was one of the long—bearded musicians behind such hits as sharp dressed man. the band toured for nearly half a century, and was inducted to the rock and roll hall of fame in 200a. a woman has beenjailed for five and a half years for stealing diamonds worth more than four million pounds or $5.5 million us from a jeweller in london. the court heard that lulu lakatos, who is 60 and was born in romania, swapped the gems for pebbles. prosecutors said it was the highest value theft of its kind in the uk. what do the great barrier reef, the canals in venice and the galapagos islands have in common with the slate landscapes of north west wales? the answer is unesco world heritage site status. the area, including six sites in snowdonia, is now one of 32 uk sites on the prestigious list. our wales correspondent

tomos morgan reports. this adopted. 20 years in the makini this adopted. 20 years in the making and _ this adopted. 20 years in the making and recognition - this adopted. 20 years in the making and recognition is - making and recognition is finally here. the slate landscape that dominates parts of snowdonia is now on a prestigious unesco world heritage list that includes the great wall of china and machu picchu. ., , picchu. doctor david gwen was behind the _ picchu. doctor david gwen was behind the bed. _ picchu. doctor david gwen was behind the bed. i _ picchu. doctor david gwen was behind the bed. i felt - picchu. doctor david gwen was behind the bed. i felt it - picchu. doctor david gwen was behind the bed. i felt it would | behind the bed. i felt it would behind the bed. i felt it would be something wonderful almost magical here and i am delighted to hear now that after 20 years our ambitions have been realised.— our ambitions have been realised. ~ ., , , realised. who can resist the siiht realised. who can resist the si . ht of realised. who can resist the sight of men _ realised. who can resist the sight of men digging - realised. who can resist the sight of men digging a - realised. who can resist the | sight of men digging a hole? wales led the world in the early 1900s and it employed close to 2000. so why does welsh slate have a good name world wide was mike firstly, it is the best slate in the world.

it is one of the fanciest slates, it's been on routes for well over 300 years. for slates, it's been on routes for well over 300 years.- well over 300 years. for this former quarryman, - well over 300 years. for this former quarryman, the - well over 300 years. for this former quarryman, the area | well over 300 years. for this i former quarryman, the area has always been special. this place could have gone to rack and ruin, been forgotten about, more decay than there already is so maybe this is how we can get a backup on its feet and have the recognition. it is a fantastic piece of news. just as the taj mahal has for india and the pyramids for egypt, the hope is that the recognition for this late minds here in north wales will also bring an economic boost to the area. for the locals it is tourism a key employer here, that will hopefully benefit from the announcement today. in hopefully benefit from the announcement today. in order to net announcement today. in order to get tourists _ announcement today. in order to get tourists to _ announcement today. in order to get tourists to stay _ announcement today. in order to get tourists to stay we _ announcement today. in order to get tourists to stay we need - get tourists to stay we need investment putting in to get business up and running. for 1800 years. _ business up and running. for 1800 years, slate _ business up and running. for 1800 years, slate has been mined in this silver is

striking and rugged landscape. and now the stone that roofs buildings across the globe from westminster to melbourne to rio has accolades world over. what an interesting part of the world to visit, one i will definitely want to go to pandemic restrictions lived here in singapore. and finally just to get on a plane would be wonderful. finally, a slice of prince charles and princesses that make princess diana's wedding cake has been put up for sale a0 years after the event. the large slice features the royal coat of arms colluding gold red blue and silver. take a look. it is expected to sell for between three and £500 at an auction in cirencester next month. they said the cake was in good condition but would—be buyers

are advised against eating it. it was given to moira smith, a member of the queen mother's householder clarence house who preserve the cake with clingfilm. how resourceful. i don't think our wedding cake would be good to eat either. that is it, thanks for watching. hello. wednesday brought us another day of some sunny spells, but some really heavy downpours and frequent thunderstorms with lightning and hail, too. this was the picture in telford during wednesday afternoon. now, the outlook is for the unsettled theme to continue, so i think thursday will bring another day of sunshine and showers. it'll be quite cool and breezy. but the showers won't be as heavy or as frequent as they have been over recent days. that's down to the fact that this area of low pressure that's bringing all of this showery weather is just drifting its way off towards the north and north—east. we have got another area of low pressure developing in the south west, and that'll

be more of a player through thursday night into friday. so, for much of northern ireland, scotland and northern england, quite a cloudy start to the day with some showery rain. further south across england and much of wales, largely dry with some sunshine around. there will be some brightness developing in the north during the afternoon, but down towards the south west, expect some rain to arrive later in the day. the breeze picking up here, too. it will be quite a blustery feeling sort of day and not particularly warm for this time of year. but temperatures generally somewhere between 18—22 degrees for most of us. not too bad down towards the south east, a drier day here than we have seen recently. now, into thursday night, the showers in the north will gradually ease away, but our tension turns to the south west of england where this area of really heavy rain will move its way in and look at those wind gusts around about a0 to 50 mph, unseasonably strong gusts of wind through the english channel, through the bristol channel as well. so, it's going to be very blustery in the south first thing friday morning and a pretty wet start to the day, too. whereas further north, it's looking mostly dry to start the friday and quite a bit of dry weather for friday

across parts of scotland, northern ireland and northern england just a few showers around. further south across england and wales, we've got that initially heavy rain and brisk winds which gradually clears towards the east through the day, and then a return to some sunshine and scattered showers around, too. temperatures cooler in recent days, around 17—20 degrees on friday. and then heading towards the weekend, low pressure still not far away, but it is starting to move off towards the east. we've got a northerly air flow coming down and higher pressure out in the atlantic is trying to nudge its way in. so, between weather systems as we head through the course of the weekend. perhaps one or two showers around, but quite a bit of dry weather through saturday and sunday, too. some sunny spells and temperatures on the cool side for this time of year. bye— bye.